1937 - Kunst und Macht

Overview

In 1937, art and power collide in a rare clash that will change the face of Europe for decades to come. At the beginning of the year, the Spanish town of Guernica was bombed by the German air force. On June 30, Goebbels issued his decree "to segregate German folk art", the campaign against modern art. On July 18, Hitler inaugurated the "House of German Art" in Munich, one day later the exhibition "Degenerate Art" was opened. Erwin Leiser interviews art historians, dealers and contemporary witnesses such as Willy Brandt, tracks down lost paintings and shows the "Degenerate Art" exhibition reconstructed in Los Angeles - without propagandistic slogans.